Rob Richardson of Matherville touches hands through glass with 10-year-old Boris as he leaves the Schelkova orphanage. Boris and his borther Eugene spent six weeks with Mr. Richardson and his wife Carolyn, last summer. The Richardsons visited the boys last month when volunteers with ChildLife International visited Russia.

ORYOL, Russia -- Das Vidanya. Goodbye.

Quad-Cities volunteers Kathy Johnson and Jean Mueller left their orphanage quietly. It would be easier for the children if they didn't say goodbye, they were told, but it didn't quite work. Ms. Johnson had become attached to a girl named Dasha and when she turned to leave, Dasha was standing in the doorway.

``She had her arms outstretched, and I had hugged her many times before, so I couldn't ignore her,'' Ms. Johnson said tearfully. ``The look on that girl's face, I know, is going to haunt me the rest of my life. It was extremely hard for me to turn around and walk away from her, knowing I'll probably never see her again or know her fate.''

Tears also came the last day Terri Gleize, of Donahue, and Karen Paytash, of East Moline, visited the Znamenka center. The women gave the staff money from their own pockets -- $20 to the teachers and director, $15 to teachers' aides and small gifts to others.

The women also wanted to thank the cook, though they had not met her. They went into the kitchen and gave her $5.

``You would have thought she'd won the lottery,'' Mrs. Paytash said in wonder. ``When Luba (the translator) told her how much it was in rubles, tears just streamed down her face. She told us it was half a month's salary.

They gave her $5 more, and everyone cried and hugged.

``It was so heartwarming how $10 can so affect someone when we just blow it in America,'' Mrs. Paytash said.

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It was hard for volunteers to leave their orphanages knowing few Russians would take their places. At every center they visited, a few local residents donate food or old clothes, but only the Friazino Baby House has volunteers who sometimes play with the children.

When asked why more Russians do not volunteer, or protest conditions at the worst centers, Boris Altshuler, head of the Moscow children's advocacy group Rights of the Child, said most Russians have little energy for such things.

``The public during the last century has only one feeling: Nothing can be done,'' Mr. Altshuler said. ``The Russian public accepted the genocide in Chechnya. The Russian public accepted the non-payment of salaries to millions for years. When they hear about atrocious conditions in the internats (orphanages for mentally disabled children), they really don't know what to do.''

The Russian translators echoed his thoughts.

``I visit such places all the time,'' said Svetlana Abramova in Moscow. ``When you're here, you just want to cry and you want to help them, but the problem is so big, you don't know where to start.''

``Our women are so kind-hearted, but it is too difficult financially, now,'' said Irina Maslova, in Oryol. ``They cannot feed their own children, let alone take care of others' children.''

Hard times in Russia, though, mean a few dollars go a long way. Many volunteers felt inadequate after seeing so much need, but they knew their donations truly had relieved physical miscomfort.

The 22 children at a Friazino temporary orphanage will have warm, dry feet when walking to school, because the Quad-Cities-based charity ChildLife International bought them waterproof boots. The 40 children at an Oryol temporary shelter can take off their tattered gloves, because ChildLife brought them new ones. The 105 babies and toddlers at the Friazino Baby House will be more comfortable because ChildLife bought new diapers and diaper-rash ointment.

Volunteers did bigger things, too. Children at a Schelkova temporary orphanage will learn vital skills on the computer ChildLife is buying. The run-down Oryol center will get badly needed repairs. Children at the Oryol medical treatment center can watch educational programs on the VCR that ChildLife bought.

The Oryol team wanted to replace the urine-stained mattresses at the Znamenka center, but they couldn't do it in a week.

``There was only one place that made beds and mattresses, and they had to be ordered from there,'' Mrs. Paytash said. ``It was frustrating, because their shopping is totally different. I wanted to run to Wal-Mart, but it wasn't that easy.''

It was a bit easier for the Moscow team. Michelle Zvyagin, wife of Russian-born Quad City Mallards goalie Sergei Zvyagin, stayed an extra week with her in-laws. The volunteer team decided what to buy and gave the money to the Zvyagins, who spent a whole day shopping and then loaded up the station wagon to deliver the goods to the Friazino Baby House.

Watching the baby formula, syringes and diapers being unloaded was fulfilling for Mrs. Zvyagin, who, together with her husband, helped raise almost $8,000 for ChildLife's February trip through fundraisers at two Mallards games.

``To actually see it go from hand to mouth was the biggest reward of my life,'' Mrs. Zvyagin said. ``I came back with a total sense of happiness that I had accomplished what I wanted to do. It inspired me to tell people what we did, and where the money went, so maybe they'll donate more in the future.''

The Oryol team had no Zvyagins, so they had to give mostly cash, a practice ChildLife member and native Russian Eugene Chernov had warned against. Humanitarian groups say large amounts of cash are too tempting for orphanage workers who are in dire financial straits themselves.

Christian World Adoption gives at least $1,000 of aid per adoption to each orphanage, but the organization gets suggestions and buys things itself, said Russia program director Kerry Marks. She travels to Russia six times a year to work with CWA's facilitators and visit orphanages. She visited 20 centers on her most recent trip in February.

``I pick up receipts and reports on where the aid went and then go to the orphanage to check that it's there,'' she said. ``It's important to keep visiting the same places to develop a relationship with them, but also to let them know they're being watched. They need to take me seriously when I say I'm coming back.''

Advocacy groups have documented many cases of orphanage workers stealing food, toys and clothes donated by aid organizations, said Mr. Altshuler, of Rights of the Child. Sometimes it goes home to their children, and sometimes it ends up for sale at the market.

``In a country of robbing bureaucracy, fair distribution of humanitarian aid is always a problem,'' Mr. Altshuler said. ``We organize such aid only to institutions where there are directors we trust personally and where we have possibilities to check up independently. Aid distribution cannot work in such a corrupt country. It must be accompanied by the traditions of a democratic country.''

ChildLife teams in July and October will follow up with the orphanages visited on this trip, founder Connie Siefken of Davenport said.

But for the February volunteers, it was time to return home to the Quad-Cities. Many sat at the gloomy airport that Sunday wondering if they would see their new friends again. They thought about the children and their futures. They worried about the translators and the elderly and hoped Russia's economy would improve soon, so their lives would be easier.

They struggled to explain how befriending individual Russians had affected them. Mrs. Mueller will never read news about Russia the same way. Mrs. Paytash planned to rededicate her life to working with children. Mrs. Johnson will treasure the friendships for the rest of her life.

Nancy Edlund put the volunteers' feelings into words.

``We take them home in our hearts. We leave them here physically, and we pray God watches over them.''